The present invention relates to cosmetic compositions for making up and/or caring for the skin and the lips, and which are for example useful for giving the skin and the lips a lightening, unifying or even covering effect with regard to skin imperfections.
It is common for people with dyschromia, for instance pigmentation marks, blotchy skin or shadows on the skin and for example on the face, to wish to efface these skin defects. Similarly, people with colored skin may wish to lighten the natural shade of their skin.
As more particularly regards the lightening aspect of the skin, it is already known practice to use products containing bleaching active agents, for instance hydroquinone. However, these products have the effect of being relatively aggressive and moreover of requiring a prolonged treatment before obtaining a result. They therefore do not afford an immediate lightening effect as soon as they are applied to the skin.
Other alternative compositions have already been proposed to obtain an immediate lightening and/or covering effect.
A first alternative exploits fluorescent compounds such as optical brighteners. However, these compounds only afford an immediate lightening effect under optimum lighting conditions, which are generally better than those afforded by natural light or ordinary lighting.
A second alternative is directed towards using “interference” pigments, i.e. pigments capable of affording a colored glint that differs according to the angle of observation. Unfortunately, these compositions generally have the drawback of simultaneously giving a glossy appearance and are therefore not in accordance with the natural flesh tone of the skin. Moreover, these interference pigments are generally used under conditions such that the corresponding cosmetic composition gives an excessively imperfect colored and/or covering effect that therefore masks the skin's natural appearance. Such compositions are especially described in documents WO 01/51017 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,916.
Another alternative described in document WO 04/045524 is itself directed towards combining in the same composition “transparent” pigments with non-interference particles. However, this type of composition does not prove to be entirely satisfactory in terms of covering dyschromia.
Consequently, there is still a need for a cosmetic composition that can give a lightening and unifying makeup while at the same time preserving the skin's natural flesh tone in terms of color and/or sheen.